


next-door shenanigans

by nerrinzer



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-17 02:11:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13649271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerrinzer/pseuds/nerrinzer
Summary: Your next-door neighbour was a playboy, and you'd be damned if you allowed him to get his way with you.





	1. weekly traditions

“Ah! T-Tooru…”

There it was again – just like clockwork, every Friday night, no matter how late, and without fail. Before moving out of your parents’ home into your own apartment, your friends had warned you about such things. More specifically, about having “nymphos” as neighbours. Now, you wouldn’t exactly call your next-door neighbour a nympho; once a week wasn’t all that bad. But due to the tragic layout of the apartment complex, your bedroom and his shared a rather thin wall, which gave you full access to the sounds of pleasure that came from his room every Friday night. In fact, you hardly ever see the guy. The only reason that you even know his name is because of all the moans and screams from all the different girls that he’d bring back every week. 

On a good day, you wouldn’t mind the noise all that much. Six months into staying here and you’ve grown quite accustomed to this strange routine of his (for better or for worse). However, a quick glance at the clock tells you that it’s well-past four in the morning, and you had been rudely awakened from your much-awaited slumber of the week. Clicking your tongue in annoyance, you lifted a leg out of your covers, slamming it twice against the wall you shared with your neighbour. 

It took a while, but the faint creaking noise eventually stopped, and silence returned. Readjusting yourself under the covers, you soon fell back into deep, peaceful slumber. 

 

“Good morning.” 

An unfamiliar voice jolts you out of your half-awake state, and you glance up as you were about to lock your door. Standing in front of the door to his own apartment was none other than your neighbour himself, a small smile that didn’t really reach his eyes playing on his lips. 

“H-Hi?” you say awkwardly, immediately remembering how you had possibly interrupted some sort of act of passion going on between him and whoever he was with last night. You immediately return your attention to locking your front door, wanting nothing but to quickly leave and get away. 

“I don’t really see you around, do I?” he pipes up, just as you walked past him to get to the lift. You pause in your footsteps, sparing him a glance before shaking your head. It was true – in the past six months that you’ve lived here, you’ve only seen him a maximum of four times. Thank goodness for that, because you don’t really know how to interact with or act around someone like him. He notices your silence and chuckles, finally opening the door and returning back to his apartment. “I guess I’ll see you around, neighbour.” 

Strange, you think to yourself. What was he even doing out in the hallways on a Saturday morning? With a shrug, you soon forget about the unusual encounter, and went about your day as you normally would. 

 

You let out a yelp as the grocery bag slips from your grip, its contents spilling out onto the carpeted floor. 

“Oh my, let me help you with that,” the person behind your surprise offers, swiftly gathering the fruits and vegetables off the ground and back into the paper bag. You could only stare, mouth agape and eyebrows raised as you watched your beloved neighbour. 

“Here you go,” he says as he hands you your recovered items, sporting the same smile as he had earlier this morning. 

“Thanks,” you mumble, taking the bag from him. “More importantly, what were you doing sitting in front of my door?”

A sheepish grin replaces that annoying permanent fake smile of his, and he rubs the back of his head awkwardly. “Well, you see… I think I’ve lost the key to my apartment and… I locked myself out?” 

You stare at him for a moment, contemplating your next course of action carefully. What was that supposed to mean? Was he expecting you to invite him in? But you guys weren’t even close, and this morning was the first and only time you’ve ever spoken to him. Isn’t this some kind of dangerous scenario you’d see on television, inviting some random weird man into your apartment all of a sudden without anyone else? 

“Oh,” you finally say, opening the door and quickly slipping into your apartment. 

“Wait, wait, wait!” Tooru jams his hand between the door, forcefully preventing you from closing it. “You’re not just going to leave me out there, are you?” 

“Well, I don’t see what you expect me to do,” you retort, voice shaky from the strain of trying to push his hand away to let you close the door (he was strong, you’ve got to give him that), “just ask the receptionist to help you get a replacement key.” 

Using his other hand as leverage, Tooru pushes against the door again, this time creating a gap large enough for him to stick his head in. You shriek in terror, nearly dropping your groceries all over the floor again. You stop pushing against the door with your weight, not wanting to snap his neck into two.

“The receptionist said that they can only give me the replacement keys tomorrow – I’ve tried to contact my friend but he called me an idiot and hung up on me,” he pleads, eyes watery with what you were positive were fake tears. “Please, dear friendly neighbour, I won’t do anything weird, I promise!” 

You stare in bewilderment at the head sticking into your apartment, utterly at a loss for what to do. Just yesterday you were complete strangers to each other – heck, he’s calling you “dear friendly neighbour”; he doesn’t even know your name! And now he’s suggesting that he seek refuge in your apartment? You’d be an idiot to agree to that. 

Noticing how he hasn’t forced his way into your apartment yet, you take this opportunity to shove him in the chest, slamming the door shut and locking it as he stumbles backwards. “Why don’t you ask one of your girlfriends?” you raise your voice for him to hear you through the door before quickly turning away, not wanting to hear whatever he has to say lest you start to pity him and actually let him in. 

 

The next few days passed by in a blur. Juggling college and your part-time job, you’d leave your house early in the morning and be back late at night. You were so exhausted from having to keep up with your hectic schedule that you’d almost forgotten about the strange incident that happened over the weekend. So, when you saw Tooru leaning against his door as you were returning home from a long day of classes, you nearly turned on your heels and made a run for the lift before his voice stopped you. 

“Hey, hey, don’t need to act so cold. We’re neighbours after all, aren’t we?” the fake smile was back, and you couldn’t help but feel irked. 

“Is there something you need?” you asked, wary and hesitant. There was no way he’d be standing out here for fun. No matter how presumptuous it made you sound, he was definitely waiting for you to come back. 

“I just wanted to get to know my cute neighbour a little better, that’s all,” he kicks himself off the door, moving to get closer to you. “I understand I overstepped my boundaries the other day – Iwa-chan gave me an earful when I told him about what I did.” 

You nodded slowly, not really seeing where this was going. “It’s okay, as long as you know,” you said, fishing for your keys in your bag. 

“How about we have dinner together?” he suggests, and you nearly drop the keys in your hands. 

“W-what?” you stutter, not sure if you had heard him correctly. First, he wanted to stay over at your place and now he wanted to have dinner together? After six months of ignoring each other’s existence? “Sorry, but no.” 

“Rejecting your sweet neighbour again? You’re a real heartbreaker,” he whines, but the expression he wears held no hint of childishness in them at all. In fact, it sent a chill down your spine, reminding you of all the different girls he’s been bringing back every week, and the kind of impression he’s formed in your mind since day one. 

“Is this some kind of way to get me to be another one of those weekly fucks you bring back all the time?” you spat, turning to face him, no longer shying away from his gaze. “Sweet neighbour, my ass. I’m not interested in being some kind of fuck buddy for you.” 

With that, you brush past him, quickly unlocking your door and getting in before he can say anything. As you close the door behind you, you take in deep breaths, trying to steady your racing heartbeat. You’ve never liked confrontation and you’ve never given anyone a piece of your mind like that but if Tooru thought that he could play around with you and have you smitten by him, he was dead wrong.


	2. the beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a lot of dialogue in this one, hardly any action ;u; thanks for the comments in the previous chapter i really appreciate it!! this is the first work that i'm publishing here so i'm kinda new and this is mostly just for practice/my own amusement but i really hope it'll turn out great and you guys will like it :')

“He did _what_?” Tetsurou bursts out laughing, and you cringed a bit as some of the food in his mouth landed dangerously close to you.

“Tetsu, stop. You’re being disgusting, and not to mention embarrassingly loud,” you roll your eyes, pushing some napkins towards him.

Tetsurou was a childhood friend of sorts, having gone to the same school as you since elementary school. Even though he was a year older than you and thus a senior at school, you guys somehow got along well and kept in touch despite separating ways in college. 

“Well, maybe this is an opportunity for you to spice up your life a little, you know?”

You snort at the suggestion. Sure, your social life, and not to mention love life, was anything but vibrant now but you’ve had your fair share of dating experience, and you know for sure that your neighbour was definitely not someone you’d want to go to for any “spicing up”. There should be a good reason why he has been able to bring so many different girls back to date – he’s charming as hell, you’ll give him that, and being aware of how he uses that to trick so many girls into falling for him and doing as he wants doesn’t necessarily make you immune to his charms. You’d rather not take any chances at all and stay away. You don’t really have the time or energy to deal with any sort of complicated emotions, anyway. 

“Well, kitten, it’s getting kind of late,” Tetsurou says, finally making use of the napkin that you gave him to wipe his mouth. “I’ll walk you back, okay? Maybe I’ll get to see that handsome neighbour of yours, too.”

“Don’t count on it,” you scoff, “he’s probably going to come back late tonight seeing as it’s a Friday.”

Ah, yes. Friday. Time to prepare yourself for a whole night of noise and lack of sleep.

You spend the fifteen minute walk back to your house updating Tetsurou about whatever you didn’t manage to tell him over dinner, and listening to his own updates as well. As you’re about to reach your apartment building, you see a silhouette coming in from the other direction, and it looks like someone you recognise but you plead and pray to all the Gods above that it isn’t who you think it is.

“Tetsu, quick, turn around and walk in the opposite direction,” you say, grabbing him by his shoulders to try to turn him around.

Completely clueless and utterly confused, Tetsurou stays rooted, not budging an inch. “Ah! Ms. Neighbour!” a cheerful voice calls out, and you glare at Tetsurou, cursing him for foiling all your plans.

Tooru picks up his pace a little, standing in front of you and Tetsurou within seconds. You’re not sure what to make out of this situation but you manage to muster a small smile and a small wave. “Hi.”

“What a cold greeting!” Tooru pouts, and you’re kind of amused because there’s a grown man in front of you right now, pouting like how your five year old nephew would.

Tetsurou snickers and pats your shoulder. “Well, I’ve done what I’ve wanted to do and I’ve safely escorted you back so I’ll be taking my leave now.”

Your expression immediately drops, a deep frown settling on your face as you try your best to send your long-time friend a telepathic message through your eyes. _Leave me here and you’re dead to me_. But he just laughs, patting your shoulder once more as if giving you some sort of encouragement, before turning around and making his way back to his own apartment. You gawk wordlessly, feeling a strong sense of betrayal washing over you and thoughts of revenge flooding your mind until Tooru clears his throat and you are brought back to reality.

“Let’s head up together, Ms. Neighbour!” Tooru smiles, and for the first time since your unexpected encounter with him that night, you realise that he’s alone.

“No girl with you tonight?” you ask before you can stop yourself. The question is not so much out of curiosity but surprise at the fact that it’s a Friday and your neighbour isn’t making out with a girl right now. You try to recall the last time you got a good night’s sleep on a Friday but his laughter cuts off your train of thought.

“What are you talking about? I’m with you right now, aren’t I?”

You wince a little because that was kind of cheesy but you should have expected it. Not knowing how to respond to that, you just let the look of disgust remain on your face till he gets the hint.

“Alright, alright. Geez, you really break my heart, you know that?”

Not really knowing how to respond to that, you simply shrug before walking away to make your way into the apartment building. Tooru starts whining about how cold you are and you manage to put off the urge to punch him throughout the entire time it takes for you to get to your front door.

“By the way, I haven’t gotten your name,” Tooru speaks up just as you were about to step into your apartment.

“My name is Ms. Neighbour,” you tell him, not wanting to let him get the chance to get familiar. Knowing him, it’ll probably go downhill from here and before you know it he’ll be having the spare keys to your apartment and eating out of your fridge as and when he pleases. Nope, not going to deal with that.

“Okay, how about I give you my name? A fair exchange, right?”

“I already know it.”

This time, it’s Tooru who doesn’t know how to respond. He stares at you, dumbfounded, and you can’t help but note that this is the first time you’ve seen such a candid expression on him, as if this was his true self relaying his true emotion, unlike all the other times you’ve seen that irksome fake smile on his face.

“A-are you a stalker?” he finally asks, expression morphing into one of mock horror.

“Yeah,” you say without hesitation, walking into your apartment and closing the door behind you.

 

It’s 3:45 in the morning, and you find yourself wide awake, staring at the ceiling while you lie in bed. Now, being awake at this time wasn’t what was surprising here. What was surprising was that it was completely quiet; not a single noise coming from your neighbour’s room. You kind of expected it, seeing as he was alone when you saw him earlier today, but you would think that the silence would mean that you would be able to get a good rest, right? Yet for some reason, you were finding it hard to fall asleep. Groaning, you kick your covers violently off of you, getting up to get yourself a cup of warm milk in an attempt to lull you to sleep.

Taking the warm milk out of the microwave, you hold the hot cup with the tip of your fingers and blowing on the drink to cool it down. You make your way to the balcony, hoping that some fresh air would clear your mind. However, as you step out into the cold night air, you notice that there’s someone else in the balcony next to yours. Seriously, what was up with your fate with him these few days?

“It’s my stalker!” Tooru chirps, arms folded and leaning against the railing. “Can’t sleep?”

You shake your head, resting your arms on your railing too as you took a sip from your cup.

“Even though I was nice enough not to be noisy today?”

The question takes you off guard, and you nearly choke on your drink. So he did know that he was being a total nuisance and depriving you of sleep every week?

“It has nothing to do with you.”

“Oh really?” Tooru rests his cheek on his hand, looking at you with that fake smile of his again. “I thought my activities were bothering you, seeing as how you so courteously interrupted me the other day.”

Remembering the night when you slammed your leg against the wall separating your bedroom from his to get him to quieten down, your cheeks and ears heated up against your will. “What you do is none of my business but it wouldn’t kill you to keep it down,” you state, turning away from him so you don’t have to meet his gaze.

“Ah, but sometimes the love and passion just can’t be contained.”

“Love and passion?” you repeat after him, a hint of scepticism in your voice. “I don’t think there’s much love and passion in bringing back a different girl every week to fuck around with.”

Tooru chuckles, clearly amused at how straightforward you were being. “Humans have needs to fulfil, don’t they? I’m sure you do it with that boyfriend of yours, too.”

You raise a brow at that, before remembering about your encounter with him and Tetsurou from earlier. “He’s not my boyfriend. And like I said, what you do is none of my business. You have your values and I have mine, and I’m not judging you for it.”

“Say, why are you being so stubborn towards me? Most people would be at least willing to give their names to their neighbours, no matter how annoying they find them, right? It’s common courtesy, I believe.”

You mull over his words, knowing the exact answer to that but not wanting to voice it out. He doesn’t need to know that you’re guarding yourself from someone like him, doesn’t need to know that you know what he’s trying to do and you’re simply protecting yourself.

“That day you told me you didn’t want to become one of my ‘ _weekly fucks_ ’ so I assume you’re deliberately putting this distance between us,” he continues, but you remain silent. “I won’t force anyone to do anything if they’re not up for it, you know.”

You finally turn to look at him, and you’re taken aback by how serious he looks, the playfulness from before nowhere to be found on his features. It makes your heart skip a beat, the intensity with which he’s looking at you, and you find yourself breaking the eye contact between the two of you again.

“It’s [Last Name] [First Name],” you finally say, so softly that Tooru thought that he was imagining things.

“Well, [Y/N],” he reaches over, brushing the back of his hand gently over your cheek, and you instinctively step back, ignoring how hard your heart was pounding against your chest. “I’m Oikawa Tooru.”

And at that moment, you knew you were in for a whole lot of trouble.


	3. mishaps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh thanks again guys for all the comments in the previous chapter ;u; they're all really encouraging and hopefully what i have in store will continue to live up to expectations! also casually adding kuroo and nekoma in as much as i can because he's my absolute fav hurhur

You’re not sure which came first – you waking up or the incessant buzzing of your phone. Whichever the case, it was pissing you off and you regret not switching your phone to airplane mode the night before. Grabbing your phone, you’re surprised to see a whole bunch of notifications from a number that hasn’t been saved into your contact list. Your confusion is, however, short-lived as a quick glance at all the messages gave you a pretty good hint as to who was making your phone go off non-stop on a Saturday morning. Annoyed at being woken up way before you were ready to get out of bed, you switch your phone off, tossing it onto your bed somewhere and pull the covers over your head. It didn’t even occur to you to wonder how on earth your neighbour managed to get your number till you’re wide awake a few hours later.

It’s been a few weeks since that weird talk you had with Tooru on your balcony. As usual, you don’t really see him around that much and he’s brought back a few girls during this time but you couldn't help but notice that the frequency at which he does that is no longer once a week, but maybe once a fortnight. Maybe even playboys like him have days where they just can’t score a girl, huh?

Everything felt like it was finally going back to normal until you bumped into Tooru again on your way back home from your part-time job. The lighting around your neighbourhood was a little dim, and people – usually big, gangster-looking men – tended to hang around the area at night. They didn’t really harass passers-by or anything; they mostly just minded their own business but that didn’t really stop you from being on high alert whenever you walked back from the station to your apartment building. So when you felt an arm wrap around your shoulder, your first instinct was to use your elbow and jam it into the face of whoever was trying to touch you.

You felt the perpetrator draw back, and as you turn to face him you don’t recognise him at first because his hands are half his face, trying to stop the blood that was gushing like a waterfall out of his possibly broken nose. It takes a while but it finally hits you once you take in the familiar chocolate-brown hair and tall and lean stature.

“Oh my god,” is all you were able to get out as you stared at the mess in front of you in horror. Did you really just assault your neighbour?

“Oh my god,” you repeat, rushing over to his side to try and evaluate the damage that you’ve inflicted. “Are you okay?”

“I’ve felt better,” Tooru winces, and his voice comes out all nasally as he pinches his nose bridge.

“Here, let me see,” you say, grabbing his hands and slowly moving them away from his face. Your heart races a little as you pray to every higher being out there that his pretty boy face was still intact. A sigh of relief nearly escapes you when you see that his nose wasn’t all crooked and weird like you were expecting, and the only damage you could see was a dark bruise that was already forming. Amidst all your worrying (mostly for yourself and your clean criminal record, though, not so much for him) you didn’t even notice that you had inched much closer to him to inspect his nose, and that your hands were still wrapped around his.

“Enjoying this a little too much?” he whispers, breath ghosting over your lips and you yelp, immediately letting go of his hands and pushing him away from you. Had his face not been covered entirely with blood, he might have looked a little more appealing but all you could think of was how he looked like a cannibalistic serial killer.

“Don’t push your luck,” you tell him, but there’s no bite in your words at all. “Come on, let’s get you back to your apartment.”

His nose is still bleeding by the time you reach your front doors and the tissues that you’ve handed him on the way back were soaked red. You want to blame him for sneaking up on you like that, and convince yourself that you had every reason to react the way that you did but you still felt really bad. It’d be pretty bad of you to just leave him like this, wouldn’t it? With an aggravated sigh, you hold out your palm to him.

“Pass me your keys, I’ll help you in.”  

Tooru’s eyes widen and he kind of looks like he’s going to cry but he quickly uses a hand to fish for his keys inside his pocket, while his other hand holds up the bunch of tissues to his nose. It takes a moment but when he finally hands you the keys, they’re a little bloody and you can’t help but stare in disgust, gingerly taking them from him and opening his front door. You wait for him to enter but he simply stretches an arm out, prompting you to go in first.

His apartment has the exact same layout as yours, and you’re kind of embarrassed to note that it seems a little _neater_ , as well. Pushing that thought away, you ask Tooru if it’d be okay for you to grab ice from his freezer, and where he kept his towels. He simply nodded and pointed to the cabinet above his kitchen sink, before throwing himself down onto his couch and tilting his head back to rest against the headrest.

Once you’ve wrapped the ice in a towel, you join him on the couch. “Move your hands,” you tell him, not wanting a repeat of what had happened just now. He complies and you wince, noting that the bruise had gotten darker and larger. You gently press the ice to his nose bridge, grabbing a fresh set of tissues for him to stop the remaining blood coming out of his nose. “You gotta sit up properly and tilt your head forward so the blood can come out.”

Tooru smirks at you, holding his free hand out. “I feel weak, how about you pull me up?”

You feel a strong urge to smack that smug look off his face but the guilt from causing this whole mess in the first place causes you to give in. Clicking your tongue in annoyance, you grab his hand and pull him up before you quickly let go.

The two of you just sit there in silence for the next five minutes or so, with you still holding the ice to Tooru’s nose and him occasionally lifting the ball of tissues to check if the bleeding has stopped. It’s kind of awkward and you feel like you have to break the silence somehow but you’re not really sure what to say. Maybe an apology, for starters?

“Um,” you start, shifting in your seat uncomfortably. “I’m really sorry about this. I thought you were some gangster trying to kidnap me.”

Tooru chuckles, waving a hand dismissively. The bleeding seems to have stopped, so he uses the ball of tissue to wipe any remaining blood around his nose before setting it onto the coffee table. “Don’t worry about it, it’s partially my fault too. Besides, I get a cute personal nurse out of this. Isn’t that great?” he grins as he moves his hand to wrap around yours, which were still holding the ice to his nose. You gasp, releasing the towel and it slides down his face onto his lap.

“The bleeding stopped so I’m just gonna go back now,” you blurt out, grabbing your bag and making your way out of the apartment. “If your nose seems broken or whatever just go to the doctor, I’ll pay for whatever bills you get, okay?”

And with that, you’re out of that hellhole, not even bothering to look back as the door closes behind you.

 

Despite nearly breaking his nose, your neighbour was quick to get back on friendly terms with you. It wasn’t really a surprise to you, really, since he didn’t really strike you as the type who would hold grudges. You felt relieved, seeing as how he pretty much immediately forgave you. However, when it comes to Oikawa Tooru, there’s always a downside and that was the fact that he deemed it necessary to send you at least two pictures of him a day to “update you on his recovery”. You felt bad at first so you finally replied his texts, taking the opportunity to apologise again for what you did. When it became clear that an apology was not what he was seeking and that the daily selfies weren’t going to stop, you went back to ignoring him.

It was a Saturday morning and you were lounging in bed with you pyjamas still on, absent-mindedly scrolling through your social media accounts. A message comes in and you sigh, thinking that it was probably going to be another selfie from Tooru but the messenger ID showed that it was from Tetsurou. You quickly open it, amazed that he was awake and it wasn’t past lunch yet but the image that greeted you made your eyes pop out of their sockets.

A picture of Tetsurou, an arm slung casually over Tooru’s shoulder and the two of them smiling at the camera stared back at you.

 **From: Tetsu**  
**To: [Y/N]**  
look who i found!  

 

 **From: [Y/N]**  
**To: Tetsu**  
what. the. hell.

 **From: Tetsu**  
**To: [Y/N]**  
we’re having a friendly match in half an hour

 **From: Tetsu**  
**To: [Y/N]**  
you stay pretty close to your campus right?  
come watch us

  **From: [Y/N]**  
**To: Tetsu**  
i think you’re forgetting the part where i  
hate my neighbour

 

 **From: Tetsu**  
**To: [Y/N]**  
aw kitten don’t be a downer you’ll break the  
guy’s heart

 **From: Tetsu**  
**To: [Y/N]**  
do it for the team? lev says he misses you

You frown a bit at Tetsurou’s audacity to use your favourite junior from high school against you. Having been close to Tetsurou, you inevitably became acquainted with the rest of the volleyball team in school as well. After graduating from high school, a fair number of Nekoma’s volleyball team went to the same university as Tetsurou, and unsurprisingly joined the volleyball team as well. You groan, rubbing your temples. For the team, for the _team_ , you chant to yourself. Not because of anything or anyone else. For the team, yes.

  **From: [Y/N]**  
**To: Tetsu**  
fine.


	4. guard your heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank youuu for all the kudos and comments i really really appreciate them a lot ;u; the plot is progressing prETTY slowly but SURELY. STAY TUNED (:

Upon walking through the doors of the gymnasium, you immediately felt awkward and out of place. Sure, you know quite a few of the Nekoma alumni in Tetsurou’s team but you’ve never really watched any of their matches in college, and you don’t know anyone from the opposing team except your next-door neighbour. Desperately trying not to be spotted, you stuck close to the walls, making your way to the corner of the gym where no one could really see you.

“Ah! [Y/N]!”

You jump when someone calls out to you, immediately spotting Tooru waving at you. The fact that everyone else in the gym had heard him and had shifted their attention to you did not go unnoticed, and you wanted to melt into the ground so badly. Mustering a small smile, you give a small wave back before covering your face with your hands. You see Tetsurou and his sly smirk out of the corner of your eye and you’re so ready to charge over and beat the crap out of him but the whistle blows, signalling the start of the game and the players automatically switched their game mode on.

“Why don’t you take a seat nearer to the court?” a voice behind you suggests, and you whip around, startled. In front of you stood a moderately tall guy with spiky hair, wearing the same uniform as Tooru. Judging by the number of bottles in his hands, he probably went to refill his teammate’s bottles just before the match started.

“I-it’s fine! I’m comfortable standing here,” you reject the boy’s offer, not wanting to be in such close proximity to all the other players whom you didn’t know.

“You’re that idiot’s neighbour, right? If I don’t get you to sit down now, he’ll bug you about it later so it’s really your choice,” he shrugs, starting to walk away and the thought of Tooru pestering and whining to you to sit close to the court so that you could see him in action was a thought that felt so real and so vivid that you couldn’t help but follow his teammate to the benches where all the other players were sitting. The game was pretty easy-going, so the players could substitute each other whenever they saw fit.

You took a seat at the far end of the bench, nearer to Tooru’s team’s side of the court. You couldn’t help but marvel at how serious he looked while playing volleyball, a complete change from his usual childish demeanour. As if feeling your gaze on him, Tooru breaks his concentration for a moment and looks your way, sending you a quick wink. You feel an overwhelming sense of disgust take over you but someone else voices their displeasure before you could.

“You better keep your head in the game, Assikawa.”

You turn to look at the guy from earlier, who was sitting a few spaces away from you. “Don’t mind him, he’s just being an idiot as usual,” he says, and you can’t help but hear the slight despair in his voice, as if he’s had to deal with this for nearly his entire life and has come to terms with the fact that there was no escape.

“I’m Iwaizumi, by the way. Iwaizumi Hajime,” he introduces himself, holding his hand out for you to shake.

“[Last Name] [First Name],” you tell him, shaking his hand.

“That guy’s mentioned you a lot. I hope he’s not giving you _too much_ trouble. I already know he’s been bothering you,” Hajime sighs, and you feel like he’s trying to apologize on his friend’s behalf.

“He’s a real pain in the ass,” you agree.

You watch the rest of the game in silence. The players come on and off court as they substitute each other but they’re all mostly focused on the game, so nobody really pays you much attention, thank goodness. You felt a huge sense of nostalgia, watching your old schoolmates battle with each other again, and felt like an extremely proud mama when you saw Lev block one of Tooru’s spikes (mostly because Lev was like a younger brother and precious teammate to you but also because it felt good seeing Tooru get defeated). You grin at Lev when he looks over to you, sending him a thumbs up.

Lev smiles back at you and barely has time to react before the ball flies straight into his face. You gasp, moving to get up and check if he was ok but Lev holds a hand up, the other pinching his nose bridge as it stings a little from the impact, but other than that he was fine. You look to the other side of the court to spot the perpetrator, and to no surprise Tooru was standing at where the server was meant to be. There isn’t a twinge of regret or concern in his expression, and you seriously feel like spiking a ball straight back into that smug face of his as well.

“Sorry, I thought we were all ready to start,” Tooru calls out, but doesn’t sound apologetic _at all_.

“It’s my bad!” Lev calls back, his nose still a little red.

You learn not to distract any of them till the game ends.

 

“You did so well, Lev!” you ran over to their team as soon as the game ended, a huge wave of nostalgia washing over you when you watched some of your ex-schoolmates play together on the same team again. 

“Hey, no compliments for me?” Tetsurou complains, but the grin on his face tells you he’s joking. 

You frown at him, pulling him away from the rest of the team for a moment. “Look, I don’t know what you and my crazy neighbour are planning but you’d better stop,” you lower your voice so you won’t be overheard. 

“How could you say that?” Tetsurou looks at you as if you’ve accused him of a heinous crime, shaking his head. “I’d never plot against you.” 

“You’re the one who gave him my number, aren’t you?”   

Hajime had told you earlier that this was their second match against Tetsurou’s team, and you kind of put two and two together – that scheming cat, you knew he was up to no good. 

“Like I said, I’d never plot against you,” he said, ruffling your hair. “And I hope your weekends are free because we’re gonna be having more practice matches with them in the next few months.” 

You swat his hand away from you, moving the stray strands of hair back into place. “What does that have to do with me?” 

“You wanna tell Lev yourself that you’re not coming for any of the matches? ‘Cause I already told him that you’re coming for all,” he raises a brow, and you know this has nothing to do with Lev, and nothing to do with the team and _everything_ to do with Oikawa Tooru. You have no idea when they started this hell-ish brotherhood but it had to stop, _right now_. 

Yet, before you could voice your displeasure, the devil himself appeared. 

“[Y/N]! Let’s walk back home together.” 

“I can walk home myself,” you step back from Tooru, not wanting to deal with his tendency to invade your personal space, or anybody’s personal space for that matter.

“Why? You guys live together and I wouldn’t want you assaulting poor random guys on the street at night, you know?” Tetsurou chimes in, and you could have sworn you saw Tooru shooting him a look of awe and gratefulness. 

You feel like steam might be coming out of your ears at this point in time, because clearly Tooru has found it appropriate to share every single detail with Tetsurou and vice versa, including the little mishap you had with him a few weeks earlier. 

“Firstly, we don’t _live together_ , we stay in the same building. Secondly, I don’t randomly assault people, he jus-“ 

“Yeah, yeah, just go home with him already. What’s the harm? Anyway, my team is going out for dinner now and you’re not invited so... bye,” Tetsurou turns his back to you, quickly gathering his teammates before you could butt in. 

You knew it, “for the team” my ass, that stupid cat can never be trusted. 

You turn back to a smiling Tooru, and you feel a deep sense of dread settling over you.

  

You’re usually a pretty slow walker, liking to take your time and observe the things around you but tonight, you were walking at a speed that could almost be regarded as running. 

Tooru, with his long legs, had no problem falling in pace with you and that pissed you off. For the entire walk from your college back to your apartment, Tooru took joy in updating you about the recent happenings in his life and pestering you to do the same as well but to no avail. You’re pretty sure Tetsurou has been telling him _plenty_ of things, that damned cat. 

“Also, don’t you dare serve a ball into Lev’s face ever again,” you warn, and Tooru seems stunned for a moment because this was the first and only thing you’ve said to him since leaving the gym. 

“Things like that happen to volleyball players all the time,” Tooru shrugs it off. 

“You and I both know it didn’t happen by chance.” 

“Oh? Now why would I hit him on purpose?” Tooru is wearing that fake smile of his again, as if taunting you, daring you to say what he wants you to say. Refusing to concede, you look away from him, fixing your gaze onto the ground. 

“Why are you so guarded against me?” 

There’s a strong emotion in his words that makes you look up at him, but his blank expression gives away nothing that he could possibly have been feeling. Noticing that you’re right outside your apartment building, you stop in your tracks and he follows suit, never breaking the eye contact between the both of you. It irks you that he seems almost _hurt_  by your hostility – were you wrong for protecting yourself? 

“Because you use cheap tactics like spiking a ball into someone’s face, you play around with girls all the time, you think that every girl on Earth somehow owes you _something_ …” you trail off, wavering under his intense gaze. You feel uncomfortable, but you refuse to let it show. 

“I think guys like you would just end up breaking my heart.” 

Letting out a stuttering breath, you run back into your apartment and up the stairs, not bothering to wait for the lift. To your surprise, Tooru didn’t follow you and whine as usual, and you it didn’t go unnoticed by you that you heard his front door open and slam shut only a few hours after you had gotten back.


End file.
